Genesis 42:8 “And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.”

Perhaps you are familiar with the story of Joseph as found in the book of Genesis!

At seventeen years old, Joseph is famously sold into slavery by his envious hateful brothers… and he is taken to Egypt where he serves his master faithfully.

… but as he does right, things go increasingly wrong for him! He ends up unjustly incarcerated in Egypt’s top prison, seemingly forgotten by all and a victim of all the injustices that life can throw at one person.

But in time, God turns the evil for good in his life, and Joseph goes from “rags to riches” when Pharaoh makes him lord of Egypt… where he ends up being the saviour of the known world as a devastating seven-year famine hits.

Joseph prepares the country for the famine ahead of time, and so when the food runs out everywhere else, people come from all directions to Egypt to buy food.

… And one day, along come his brothers to buy food!

And it’s one of many incredible details in this story that ten brothers, and the eleventh on the next journey… all do not recognize Joseph in his dealings with them… but he has recognized them instantly!

It is significant that Joseph was unrecognizable while they were easily recognizable. There are several reasons and many applications… but it’s because Joseph had moved on and forward in his life… because of his relationship with God… while they hadn’t.

Have you ever met someone from your past who you’ve been disappointed to find out that they haven’t changed a bit? … And then what about those from your past who are unrecognizable compared to who they were back then!

Despite Joseph’s terrible circumstances, he had grown spiritually massively. Through God’s grace, he wasn’t bitter, unforgiving or resentful towards his brothers as he could so easily have been… and that crucially had allowed him to move forward with his life.

Meanwhile… Joseph’s brothers for all those years had never got honest with themselves, their dad or (most importantly!) God about what they had done… and so their guilty conscience and unresolved sin had not let them move forward in their lives.

And so they were still stuck in the past! And for many people, it is “the past” that prevents any true progression beyond a certain point in their life.

There is no “pilgrim’s progress” until sin is resolved between us and God and then others. And it is only God who can fundamentally change and transform who we are.

When we get saved, it is God who begins a work in our lives that will make us unrecognizable compared to the person we used to be. If we are not right with God and walking with God, we truly can’t move very far forward ever in our life.

Yes, Joseph’s outward Egyptian clothing etc was part of the reason they didn’t recognize him, but it was mainly God’s deeply personal internal work in his life that had enabled him to get over, get past… and then get on with his life!

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